A very good movie

I already saw this movie in the movie theater when it was released but, since it was such a long time ago, I was quite eager to check it out again. In fact, I remember it very well, when it was released, it was a critical success and even won the prestigious Golden Palm at the Cannes Film festival. With this in mind, I had some rather high expectations but, to be honest, even though I did like it, I can’t say I was really blown away by the whole thing back then. Maybe I was too young at the time (I must have been 16-17 years old when I watched it) and I probably missed the subtlety which has always been a trademark in Mike Leigh’s work. Well, I’m really glad I gave it a second chance after all these years because, this time around, I really loved the damned thing. Indeed, it is actually a really complex movie about some really average people and I think that’s probably what slightly bothered me the first time, the fact that there was nothing really exceptional about the characters involved. However, if you look more closely, you can see that their emotions go so deep, it is pretty much like diving into the human soul while none of the characters really tell what they think or what they feel, except maybe Maurice towards the end. I also thought that the damned thing was brilliantly written (when in fact most of it was actually improvised). For example, you can imagine that, in a Hollywood production, Hortense would have discovered that she had been adopted when she was going through her mother’s things but, no, she already knew since she was a little girl. And of course, the whole cast was pretty much pitch-perfect. Anyway, to conclude, even though it might still not be my favorite movie directed by Mike Leigh, this movie is actually pretty great and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.


8/10